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The ceasefire that is killing security forces

There is a chilling video being shown on all the major TV channels. It shows a CRPF vehicle with security forces trapped in the midst of a violent mob in Srinagar. First, they pelt rocks at it. Then they surround it and try and open the doors ready to lynch the people inside. The brave men who are there to protect them. Then they get really mad and pelt cycles, big stones and literally try to take the vehicle apart. One deranged man climbs onto the bonnet.

In any country on earth such mobs would have been shot at. But you see the vehicle painstakingly slow getting deeper and deeper into a mob that gets more violent. My heart went out to the security forces. It was like watching a horror film. Somehow, the vehicle manages to get free but the madness of the crowd attacking from the top, the front and the back, results in three coming under the vehicle. From the video, it seems the men are bent on killing and be killed.

Yet the Chief Minister of the state of Jammu and Kashmir file an FIR against the vehicle driver. He should be given a gallantry award for saving the lives of his men under horrifyingly adverse circumstances.

Had the chief minister been in the vehicle she would have given shoot at sight orders but she is secure with the best security India can give. And don’t ask her to mill around and talk to the misguided youth—a term she uses for murderous stone pelters.

This brings me to the whole point of Mehbooba Mufti asking for a Ceasefire for Ramadan in the valley when stone pelters attack security forces daily. They hide terrorists in their midst and give them huge funerals when they are killed. They attack school buses and kill tourists and yet they get away. Mehbooba calls them misguided youth. The BJP Party her partner gives into her. She releases 10,000 stone pelters and gives them amnesty. Yet after the so-called ceasefire she does NOT go among the youth or their parents to win them over with her endless love. No, she stays behind her high walls while security people die of grenades thrown at them. Our Security Forces have been lynched and murdered by angry mobs but there are no human rights for them. They face these angry mobs even when they are trying to take out terrorists. Imagine being in a firefight, facing bullets, while from the back there are hordes of stone pelters trying to kill you.

This is madness. How do call for a Ceasefire against enemies of the state who do not want it? The Separatists don’t want. The stone pelters are beyond peace. The terrorists don’t want it. Pakistan certainly does not. The terror proxies that Pakistan carefully cultivates have threatened to send even more of their Jihadists across the border and are thrilled about the vacuum the ceasefire has created. This comes straight from Jaish e Mohammed and its boss- Masood Azhar. He has called for more Jihadists to join his outfit to be sent to Kashmir and fight our forces. It is a suicidal mission but he certainly does not care nor do the brainwashed killers sent across the border.

The buck stops with Mehbooba Mufti and the BJP. Just when the security forces were winning the war on terror she releases the stone pelters; calls for a ceasefire; pays condolences to the family from Chennai whose young son was murdered by stone pelters but that is just lip service; and files FIRs against forces stuck between a rock and a hard place killing off their morale.

I wonder where the Liberals are. Why do we not see candlelight marches for the men who are dying everyday protecting us as well as people like Mehbooba Mufti? Why do we not see anger at the terrorists and stone pelters swelling up and some more Award Wapsi. Why are the Liberals so selective about their outrage? Do the women and men in uniform not deserve the same respect?
This is something we as Indians need to answer and the Centre must make up its mind. The valley is nowhere near peaceful–maybe it is only five districts but it can escalate to more. We have isolated Pakistan on the world stage and called them out on terror but they still don’t care. Hafiz Saeed is fighting an election with another party. He is out of house arrest. Pakistan is broke. Its civil society is torn between radicals Islamists and a few moderates.

We better get our own house in order and not depend on the goodwill of Pakistan. They just reneged on their Ceasefire and killed two security men and injured 13 others.

Does this look like a good time to be on the backfoot? I think not. Let’s get down to the business of getting peace in the valley by taking out the bad guys. If the centre even tries to have a dialogue with the Separatists after the investigation against them and proof that they are working for Pakistan than they will be backstabbed again. It makes no sense. Why are they still residing in the valley? What games are being played here? Why can’t they be taken to the Andamans under house arrest? Just about everyone on twitter, Facebook and the social media is asking this? It seems we need more political will to address the terror outfits in the Kashmir valley. And it is time we decide the course of action. I for one am behind the security forces and everything that is needed to bring peace to the valley. By the messages I get so is most of India. But we have to recognize the bad elements and put them behind bars.

We do need Presidents Rule in Kashmir. Let us not play politics. Especially when our young men in uniform are dying at an alarming rate.

DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author's own.

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The blog will cover current issues ranging from politics to pollution — getting readers to question why India is behind in many aspects. Why do countries like China, Thailand, and Malaysia get more tourism, business and investments? Why do Indians blame history, geography or politicians for all our problems? How can Indians be more responsible? India is one of the most undisciplined countries, but when Indians go abroad they are among the most law abiding people. No Free Lunch will try to provoke readers to debate on how Indians can contribute toward building a better country.

Author

Freelance journalist Ashali Varma has authored the biography of her father late Lt. Gen. PS Bhagat — ‘The Victoria Cross: A Love Story’. She was executive producer with the International Commentary Service Inc, New York in 1990. She was the executive publisher of The Earth Times, New York (1992- 98). She has also worked as the editor of Choices Magazine, United Nations Development Programme. She writes on various issues including human rights, population and sustainable development.

Freelance journalist Ashali Varma has authored the biography of her father late Lt. Gen. PS Bhagat — ‘The Victoria Cross: A Love Story’. She was execu. . .

Blog

The blog will cover current issues ranging from politics to pollution — getting readers to question why India is behind in many aspects. Why do countries like China, Thailand, and Malaysia get more tourism, business and investments? Why do Indians blame history, geography or politicians for all our problems? How can Indians be more responsible? India is one of the most undisciplined countries, but when Indians go abroad they are among the most law abiding people. No Free Lunch will try to provoke readers to debate on how Indians can contribute toward building a better country.

Author

Freelance journalist Ashali Varma has authored the biography of her father late Lt. Gen. PS Bhagat — ‘The Victoria Cross: A Love Story’. She was executive producer with the International Commentary Service Inc, New York in 1990. She was the executive publisher of The Earth Times, New York (1992- 98). She has also worked as the editor of Choices Magazine, United Nations Development Programme. She writes on various issues including human rights, population and sustainable development.

Freelance journalist Ashali Varma has authored the biography of her father late Lt. Gen. PS Bhagat — ‘The Victoria Cross: A Love Story’. She was execu. . .